Older Projects

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving.  We had a lot of fun and a lot of food!

Today I'm posting a couple past projects, with the holiday traveling and all I haven't had a chance to do sewing this weekend.

First up, a lovely muumuu with blue fishes.  I was so excited when I found this at a dollar a bag sale.  I saw so much potential for a dramatic makeover!

I cut off the length, and gave it a V neck, but I also brought in the sides to make it more fitted and put in a couple darts that gave it a nice shape.  End result?  Fab! This is one that even I have a hard time believing it's the same garment, and I'm the one who sewed it.

Next up on the re-do road, a makeover for my daughter.  She loves all things Asian, and I've been lucky enough to find a couple cute nightgown/house coat type items at thrift stores that were pretty easy to remake into cute tops.  She likes to be unique so remaking something into a one of a kind piece is right up her alley. 

This started out as a pretty standard house coat, zipper, quilted collar,  and long.  I thought for sure the collar would be first to go, but she actually likes the collar.  All I had to do with this one was take up the length, and shorten the sleeves.  She paired it with a white belt and some black shorts to suit her own sense of fashion.  I must say the collar was a good call as it turned out to be one of my favorite elements of the new shirt.  Score one for the kid!

After my daughter wore this to school she came home and said several of her friends told her "I wish my mom sewed!"  That gave me such a thrill, to see her happy and proud.  Being crafty pays off in so many ways.

Belted Cardigan

Another two piece makeover today, I suppose since it is fall it's all about layering.  I was at the mall last weekend finding shoes for a wedding I was in and kept seeing lots of cute girly outfits in the windows with belted cardigans.  I thought the look was really cute and wanted to try to do something along those lines but on the cheap of course!





I had a very dowdy dress that I picked up at a yard sale or .50 and another sweater from my dollar a bag church sale.  The sweater was nothing special and the dress was downright unattractive.  BUT the good thing with the dress was I thought the blue and pink color scheme was pretty and there was plenty to work with.  The good thing with the sweater was for a second hand white sweater it surprisingly had zero stains and was nice and soft.

(1)I started by taking the sleeves off the dress.  I knew I was going to be layering the sweater on top of it and it would be more comfortable sleeveless.






(2) Next I took the buttons off as I was going to be sewing the front together and turning it into my favorite cleavage enhancing V neck.  

I pinned the front closed and tried the dress on to perfect where I wanted the V, as well as where I wanted to cut the skirt to turn this into a shirt.  I cut strips from the leftover skirt to create a long belt.

(3)Now for the sweater, I used some dark thread to illustrate the technique for cutting a sweater.  This sweater was super easy as it has vertical stripes.  One stripe was directly down the middle so made a great guide for where to cut.  As you can see I sewed a line of straight stitch on either side of where I wanted to cut.  I then turned the cut edge under and sewed it in place. 






Finished product!  I put my new cardigan on over my new floral blouse, and wrapped my snazzy belt on top of it all.  I was really tickled with how this came out.  I even ended up keeping the pockets that were in the dress.  After wearing this today I have a couple ideas of how I might like to tweak it a little, maybe try it with a navy cardi, and layer a lace cami under?  A re-do of a re-do?

Hope you have a wonderul Thanksgiving!

-Lucia

Neapolitan

I was in the mood for a major re-do, and I have to admit this one had me frustrated.  I had to put it down last night and let it sit I was so aggravated.  I knew where I wanted to go, but it just wasn't coming together.  I'm getting ahead of myself though, to the before pics!

This started out as two pieces.  One is a blase' peachy colored gingham shirt I picked up at a yard sale for $1.  The other piece is a brown turtle neck I've had around for ages but never wear because, well I'm just not good in turtle necks.  The good thing with both of these is the color.  When I put the peach shirt on I loved what it did for my complexion, and the brown sweater is a really nice chocolately color.



First things first I cut the peach shirt in half.  Probably a little more than half actually, I've got a good bit of peach gingham to do something with now.  Next I cut the sweater off right under the arms.  This turtle neck is more like a ribbed cotton, not a woven sweater so it was easy to cut.

Next I pinned the top of the peach shirt to the bottom of the brown shirt and sewed them together.  This part was pretty straight forward.

The part that gave me trouble was the neck.  At first I thought I was going to keep the collar as it was, but once I tried it on I just didn't like it at all.  I decided to cut the collar off and re-vamp the neckline.  Whew, this part stymied me and I had to put the whole thing down.  I came back to it the next night and it all finally fell into place.  I pinned under where the buttons and button holes had been to show the solid peach lining, then sewed everything down.  Finally!





Now again I tried it on and it was just missing something still.  I decided that the two shirts still looked like two shirts and not one.  Inspiration struck and I took the neck off the turtle neck and fashioned in to two cuffs for the sleeves.  This little bit of brown on the top of the shirt suddenly made the whole thing seem like one piece.

Finished product!  This is really different than anything else in my closet, and I'm so curious to hear what reaction I get when I wear it tomorrow.  I happen to love it!  My boyfriend said I look like neapolitan ice cream, which is a description I will not only accept but now I want ice cream. . .

No Sew Fix and a Bonus

Today's fix is a no sew quick fix!  I picked this blouse up at Goodwill over the weekend.  It is a bit blah as is, non descript, probably something you'd pick up at Wal Mart that a million other people have.  But the good thing is the fit is perfect as is, and the print is very nice.  Really I only have two major complaints with this piece, one the scoop neck, two the sleeves are a wierd length with elastic at the cuff.

First things first, to fix the neckline I took a handy dandy safety pin, gathered the front of the shirt and pinned it together.  This changed the shape of the top in a very flattering and pleasing way.  Second fix I simply pulled the elastic cuff up to my elbow and turned it under.  Ta Da!  Very quickly I had a blouse I really liked. 

Now, since I didn't sew today and I feel like that's cheating a bit, I'm going to throw in a past project that is one of my favorites.  Unfortunately I didn't take step by step pictures of this project, this was before I thought about starting a blog.  I will have to do another project like this because it turned out so amazingly well, this is hands down my favorite blouse.

This started out as a robe, house coat kind of thing.  It had a zipper down the front and went to the floor, had an odd collar and long sleeves but the good thing is - it was in excellent condition, no tears or stains, and the pattern was just gorgeous.  There is a kind of cherry blossom branch pattern over the leopard print. 

Major re-work on this one!  I took out the zipper, and cut the whole thing in half.  I also shortened the sleeves.  I took the material from the bottom of the robe and added pieces to create a wrap shirt, including ties.   The end result is FAB!  The shirt is flattering, comfy and gets compliments everytime I wear it.

Just realized the only picture I have of this shirt has the before and after together and they are in the wrong order.  Ah well, I'll have to try for an action shot of me wearing it out sometime.

I have a couple very frumpy dresses I'm eyeing for next week, cross your fingers that I've got a winner in the basket!

Big Comfy Sweater

With the onset of cooler weather I get to bring out a couple sweaters I've had in my project basket for awhile.  I hit a church rummage sale awhile back where you could fill up a bag for $1, and in my bag I got several sweaters. 

The sweater I'm working with today is a big white cable knit turtle neck.  I will tell you candidly I have a generous busom and a short neck, both of which make me the worst canidate possible for white turle neck sweaters.  The good thing is with this sweater - I adore the knit, it is cozy and warm and makes me feel wrapped up and comfy.  Also considering I spent about .10 the sweater is in fantastic condition, I had to repair a couple holes in seams but no stains or major damage.

First things first, that turtle neck has got to go.  This one was sewn on to the body of the sweater so I simply cut it off.  The sweater looked better immediately.

If you have an 11yr old daughter she may choose this moment to do an impromptu Lady Gaga impression.

Now to turn this in to a V neck.  The cool thing to know about sweaters is that you can cut them and change them!  I know it sounds a bit scary, because they could unravel right?  But here is the trick, remember to sew a line of stitches along either side of where you want to cut before you do any cutting.  This insures that when you cut the threads are secure and wont unravel.  I sewed a double line of stitching down the front to the depth I wanted my V, then cut. 

Next I turned back either side of my cut, and turned under the neck all around to give it a finished edge.  I gave this a double line of stitches, about a half inch apart to help everything lay flat.  I then trimmed of the excess material on the inside left from turning everything under.

That's all there was to this one!  I paired it with a matching cami and a pair of black slacks.  I felt very polished and cozy.  The really awesome thing?  I found a really similar sweater on Lane Bryants website for $39.99.  Hmmmm, $40 versus one thin dime?  I think I like my sweater best =-)

Sick!

So frustrating just as I am kicking off my new blog but I have been sick the last few days and haven't gotten to sew. But tonight I will be hitting the sewing machine. I have a big comfy sweater got at a church rummage sale for about a dime, the weather is just begging for a sweater re-do.

Week of Oct 25th Black and White Jacket Re-Do

Todays re-do started out as one piece of a two piece outfit.  My good friend Amber found this outfit at a yard sale for (drum roll please) $1!  The dress part is sleevless and LOOOOONG.  It goes to the floor on my short 5'2" self.  That will be making an appearance another time as it has plenty to work with.  For today I decided that this jacket would be awesome to re-make as a wrap shirt.  Wrap shirts are wonderful for accentuating the positive and camoflaging the not so positive on my body type.  Really wrap shirts seem to be universally flattering on every body type.

Ok, so this started out as a couple sizes to big and it was rather umm middle age-ish?  But the good thing is - the black and white hibiscus pattern is really sharp, and being a couple sizes too big makes it really easy to convert to a wrap.  Lets get started, this is a pretty easy one.

First thing to go is the white band on the bottom and the sleeves (1).  That band on it's own was aging this outfit about 20 years.  Those bands are being re-cycled as ties!  I simply sewed two of them together to make the long tie, and used the other for the short tie.  Standing in front of the mirror I played around with placement and pinned them in place (2).  When creating a wrap shirt you have to create a hole in a side seam for your long tie to go through in order for it to pass around the back (3).  I sewed the straps in place and tested them out, perfection!

I shortened the sleeves just a tad by putting in a nice wide hem, hemmed the bottom of my new shirt and we were just about done.  My last little tweak was to pin the collar down on either side.  I wanted the neck line a little more open and it kept wanting to creep in.  This is one of those things you don't always realize right away and only discover when you really wear something.  I figured it out when I was getting ready Monday morning.  Fortunately I keep some safety pins in my jewelery box and was able to use one on either lapel to keep the collar where I wanted it.


Here's the finished product, I paired it with some black slacks and my fave patent leather heels.  I got compliments on this before I even got in from the parking lot at work!  I also got comments on my heels from a guy on the elevator.  He commented that he didn't know how women walked in those things, I laughed and proceeded to trip on my way out of the elevator, I looked back and said "Apparently neither do I!"  I'm a dork, what can I say?  At least I'm a stylish dork on this particular day =-)

What it's all about

Awhile back I came across an amazing blog where a gal was spending $1 a day and remaking a different clothing item every day for a year. I spend days going through all her posts and getting caught up and my imagination got fired up in the process. Her adventures can now be followed at www.newdressaday.com you should definitely check it out!

The only thing that discouraged me a tad was that the gal undertaking that project was a petite lady who I could guess didn't have trouble finding things in her size. I thought the idea was awesome but didn't think I would be able to duplicate her success. Oh ye of little faith!

I decided to give it a go. I needed a new project to perk me up, and I loved to sew and go thrifting. Very soon I had some wonderful projects to undertake.

Here's my first project, I found a dress at Goodwill for $5. Normally I wouldn't spend that much on a single item BUT I saw that this could become two pieces when I was done with it.

I separated the skirt from the top of the dress first off. Next I turned the top into a nice summer blouse for me by taking off the sleeves. I turned the whole thing around and used the opening in the back to create a V neck, sewed that down and finished the sleeve openings. It was done! The top had a neat button detail on the side that I really liked, so I kept that as is.


For my daughter I took the skirt and turned it into a strappy top. I used the material from the sleeves to create a band and straps, then sewed the skirt onto this. My daughter added the white belt which I thought was a nice touch.

There ya go, two new tops from one very unattractive dress. This was just the beginning, but a good way to launch my new blog.

My plan is to do one item each weekend, and post it Monday. This way every Monday I get to wear something new to work! That is bound to make Mondays a little brighter eh? Midway through the week I'll post a past project, I have a few sitting around.  I will be posting before and after photos as well as more detailed photo stories of exactly what I do with each project.

I hope you enjoy! If you have any questions or comments I would love to hear them.

- Lucia